No Regrets!

With the arrival of each new year, I’m sure you all promise to do this or that, and along with the latter—of course—to never repeat that one thing you said or that other thing you did…and positive affirmation is a good way to start…if you can keep it up.  But, speaking from personal experience, we’re all human…and sometimes things are easier said than done.  And, after reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude, I realized that life is cyclical—of course in some cases it is linear—but think about it…don’t you find yourself making the same silly mistakes over and over?  Don’t you catch yourself promising to never make that same mistake again…and yet, without really paying attention to it…you catch yourself repeating the whole exact scenario?  Sometimes with a twist, undeniably, but the end result is in most cases the same…and you go on and on about how stupid it was, how regretful you feel and, of course, how you’ll “never ever make that same mistake again.”  

I’m not saying that you’re forever caught in a labyrinth of repetition…well, in a sense—sometimes—you find yourself going down that very same path you vowed never to take…and it’s ok!  Picture driving around the streets of Cairo…which are filled with unnoticeable ditches and holes…you fall into the same hole once, twice and maybe ten times...until you finally find a way out—by looking for a completely different route, and—to your surprise—you’re out of the maze, for good!  

So what am I really saying?  All I’m telling you to do is to give yourself a break!  Don’t be too hard on yourself.  We all make mistakes…some that are grave and some that seem minute…but they’re all mistakes we repeat over and over…and of course, promise ourselves over and over to stop repeating them.  But…every time we make the same mistake, whether you like to admit it or not, we learn something new—about ourselves and about the world around us.  Again, I’m not encouraging you to give up hope…you’re not eternally doomed!  All I’m saying is that if you repeat a mistake—even if it’s for the hundredth time—you shouldn’t regret it; in fact, I’ll go so far as to say that you should embrace it.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason…and the reason will always fill you with insights and ideas—more lessons learned.  And, when the time is right, you will find your alternate route and you will walk out of the maze.  But for this upcoming year, try to promise yourself this one, seemingly simple, thing—you will not regret anything—no matter how big or dramatic your mistake appears to be, further up the road you’ll realize that you had to learn a lesson…and your mistake will turn into a blessing in disguise…you should be thankful for it.